1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for administering storage medium. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for administering storage medium such as disk-like storage medium, which are preferably applied to, for example, a case where unique identification information is recorded on the storage medium as manufacturing the storage medium.
2. Description of Related Art
If disk-like storage medium (hereinafter referred to as “disk”) such as a compact disk is manufactured, an orderer for ordering manufacture of the storage medium such as a software house first orders a commissioned manufacturer for manufacturing the storage media such as a disk maker to manufacture the storage media. The software house that administrates a variety of contents will be referred to as “client” of the commissioned manufacturer. The client then provides the disk maker with master disk itself that records information or raw data. When the maker receives the master disk as recording information, it makes a stamper based on the master disk so that it can manufacture the disks of only a contracted number under contract condition. The maker then delivers or transports them from its factory to the client. Alternatively, when the maker receives the raw data as recording information, the maker also makes a stamper based on the data (contents to be stored) produced after performing an authoring process on the raw data so that it can manufacture the disks of only a contracted number under contract condition. The maker also delivers or transports them to the client.
The client settles the business with the disk maker depending on his or her strong confidence in the disk maker. The client often administrates the manufactured disks based on merely a related report from the maker wherein the maker has reported a history record of manufacturing the disks. The client may store contents of the related report on his or her own administrative server or the like. The maker often requests charges for manufacturing the disks on his or her report. The client may also store a schedule for a payment or the like, based on the contents of the report, on his or her administrative server and make a use of the contents for further administration.
In the disk maker, the factory usually operates under strict quality control or delivery control. Therefore, number of pieces of delivered disks that are described in the report or the like is virtually identical to that of actually delivered disks. There, however, may be a fact they are not identical. It has not yet been established how to verify the fact.
No administrative method and system have been established when the maker manufactures number of pieces of disks more than a contracted number thereof under contract with the client. Therefore, no track or verification that number of pieces of the disks more than a contracted number of pieces are illegally sold can be performed. This results in few means for tracking and verifying with reliability the history record of manufacturing the disks in the factory of the disk maker.
Alternatively, unique identification (hereinafter referred to as “unique ID”) information has been recently recorded on respective disks utilizing particular disk area(s) in the disk to protect against illegal copying of software by identifying the disk maker and/or the disk seller. No duplicate unique ID should be issued. In this case using unique ID, it is almost impossible to track under the actual condition the number of pieces of the disks that are delivered from the factory of the disk maker when no administrative method and system for the unique ID information has been established.
According to the invention, the foregoing problems are solved. Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for administering storage medium, which are preferably applied to a case where unique attribute information of the storage medium including unique ID information provided by the orderer side is recorded on the storage medium as manufacturing the storage medium. According to the invention, it is capable of tracking the number of pieces of the storage media that are actually manufactured in the factory using the information recorded on the storage medium. This allows for the exact administration not only in tracking the number of pieces of actually manufactured storage media and unique ID information itself but also in exactly paying the charges from the disk maker, which relate to an administration of storage media.